Negative Effects of Technology in Todays Society

Is Technology Worth the Price?

In today’s society, humans use the most modern of technology to simplify life, to add color in the once grey areas, to patch the many burdens of life. Technology now owns this planet. Everything people do, from work to play involves the use of our technology to enhance our fun and reduce our pain. However, what if the use of technology comes with a price? A good example is shown in the futuristic book, The Martian Chronicles, about the human expedition to mars.

Throughout the book, the use of technology is very widespread. As seen this in numerous chronicles within the book, as well as in the video that gives a deeper analysis of how modern technology impacts human’s lives every day. The author of The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury, as well as the director for Digital Nation, Rachel Dretzin alike warns readers through their articles of the downsides of incorporating technology in society, causing humans to add the negative traits of violence, addictiveness and its ability to easily sidetrack users.

Technology is entwined with mass destruction and violence. In one of Bradbury’s chronicles, “The Off Season”, when an Atomic warfare is released on Earth. While it is important for humans to have weapons, humans have incorporated their latest technology, the atomic bomb, to use, killing millions of innocent people still on earth, thus demonstrating the power of technology, and the power it potentially has. In The Martian Chronicles, the humans living on Mars described the destruction as “Earth changed in the black sky.

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It caught fire. Part of it seemed to come apart in a million pieces, as if a gigantic jigsaw had exploded. It burned with an unholy dripping glare for a minute, three times normal size, then dwindled” (Bradbury 95). This was a very practical example in today’s society. Instead of using bows and arrows, today, we replace it with modern technology, transforming our warfare to include guns and bombs that completely change the deadliness of warfare.

Another negative aspect towards technology is its ability to sidetrack and also hook users, significantly reducing the efficiency and quality of society. In the film Digital Nation, the filmmakers brought attention to the negative aspects of technology by showing the audience of our reliance on technology. The documentary quotes “My 10-year-old was corresponding with his grandmother on e-mail. My 5-year old-daughter had repossessed my iPhone, which she had somehow lifted out of my purse, and was taking pictures of herself, examining the picture, then taking another one. And my husband was working on his laptop, which seems to have grown into another limb these days “(Digital Nation). Furthermore, the documentary continues to state that many teens in Korea regularly game 8+ hours a day, more than regular business hours. Through the use of these examples, the movie producers open the eyes of the audience on how much we use technology in our everyday lives. They present to us, through the eyes of others and let the audience reflect on the amount of time we spend in front of a computer screen or a smartphone, and remind all of us that with technology comes addiction. This addictive property can interfere with everyday tasks, such as classwork and homework, and therefore, result in failing grades. Even if students are working on their required class work, there are many distractions that may come up and easily sidetrack their hard work, also causing many homework and classwork issues (Digital Nation).

According to Webmd.com, a research conducted on tech users show that half the participants checked their email once an hour while others checked 30-40 times an hour. What was even more astonishing was the fact that 59% of email checkers read their email every time it arrived and 83% were even checking their email during vacation. Also, another study on medical daily have proven that using social networking sites, such as facebook, activate similar parts of the brain as drug users, causing addiction. This type of sidetracking and addiction can cause many issues in work life and can have and also to society in general. Technology not only can cause mental damage, as well as physical damage too.

Overusing intense physical devices such as keyboards, mouses, trackpads, and game controllers can cause injuries to the hand, shoulder, and neck, obesity, muscle and joint problems, eyestrain, as well as behavioural problems including aggressive behaviour (“Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.). Some of these symptoms such as obesity can cause other more life threatening diseases such as heart attacks as well as permanent damages such as eyestrain. Another study from Dr. Chou Yuan-Hua claims that violent video games cause abnormally low blood pressure in the brain, and long-term gaming causes many potential brain complications. Many of these physical problems are permanent and cannot be reversed. According to statistics, nearly 70% of U.S. adults experience eyestrain due to the overuse of digital devices (Everydayhealth.com).

Though technology can be used for good and has brought us much comfort in many lives, technology’s cons greatly outweigh the pros. As Rumplestiltskin from Once Upon A Time said “All magic comes at a price!”, it seems that this magic is too high of a price to pay.

Works Cited

1. “Google.” Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
2. “How Many Nukes Would It Take to Blow Up the Entire Planet?” Gizmodo. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
3. Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1958. Print.